“Doctor Tamana, I have to protest,” Clarc said, fighting to keep hostility out of her voice. “We took this expedition on faith with almost no knowledge of what was going on. Now we’re just going to let them lock us in our rooms, accuse us of being traitors, and sit around waiting for an invading army to come shoot us, or worse, bomb us out of existence from orbit. I don’t know about my colleagues, but this is not what I signed on for.”
Tamana held up a hand. “I understand your frustration, Dr. Clarc, and I assure you, while something like this was a possibility, I didn’t think it likely enough to warrant concern. I was wrong. I apologize.”
“So that’s it then? We’re just going to sit here and wait to die?” Solvig protested. “I’m no soldier, I’m an archaeologist.”
“Has anybody considered the alternatives to getting blown up?” Amin asked, visibly agitated.
“If you have any ideas, Dr. Amin, now is the time,” Tamana said.
Amin thought for a moment, sat up, then forced himself to his feet, clearing his throat. “We’ve got a top-line transport at our disposal. SDEC has a couple of its own in the hangars. Why don’t we grab the artifact, set off in three different directions, and leave the base to the cutter? Even if it follows the right ship, odds are we could evade it long enough for help to arrive from the gate.”
Jaysn sat up. “Move the artifact? Have we even established it’s not anchored somehow, or for that matter, what the whole thing weighs?”
“Assuming it’s not attached to the base,” Novik said, sliding the Class 1 drone from the corner to the center of the room, “In the artificial gravity, a little over five metric tons. If we cut power and wait for the gravplates to discharge, it’s still around one metric ton. So, we might be able to move it, but not with any kind of speed or dexterity if someone on the base takes exception.”
“So, we blow the cave, bury the artifact, and get the hell out of here. The enemy arrives in 12 hours, and Sol Directorate troops arrive 12 hours after that. They’ll never find it, form a plan, and tunnel it out in that short amount of time. Once the military has secured the area again, we can always come back, build another base, and start over.”
“You would risk damaging or destroying the artifact? What if you’re wrong, the charges don’t completely bury it, and they’re able to retrieve it quickly?” Tamana warned.
“What would be worse?” Solvig said. “Destroying what is possibly our first evidence of an advanced civilization other than our own, or letting what is potentially advanced technology into the hands of a megacorp that, optimistically, might only accidentally collapse the interstellar economy, or worst case, use it to set themselves up as our new galactic overlords and enslave mankind. It’s a risk, but at least it gives everyone better chances of survival.”
“We also should consider whether our lives are more important than allowing the artifact to fall into the wrong hands,” Tamana said.
“I definitely did not sign on for this,” Amin said, voice trembling. “You might be right, though.”
“And if the traitor is one of us?” Clarc mumbled. “Do you really think they’ll sit by and allow us to blow the cave?”
Jaysn thought for a moment. “For every moment we debate worst-case scenarios, that gunship is getting closer. I, for one, am not going to sit around in my room while a bunch of engineers with only slightly more combat experience than I have put their lives on the line to protect me.”
Tamana nodded. “Dr. Katsaros is right; too much is at stake should anyone else get their hands on the artifact. We must do something.”
“Why am I filled with a sense of dread whenever you agree with me, Disha?”
“Because, as rash and impertinent as you are, you can also be very pragmatic when the situation calls for it,” Tamana admitted. “Dr. Amin. You’re our geologist. What’s the quickest, easiest, and most effective way to go about burying this thing?”
“Those are three entirely different things, Dr. Tamana.” Amin pulled up a tactical display on the holo. “The artifact chamber is just under two kilometers down the cave. The cave walls and ceiling are composed of methane and nitrogen ice, with potentially enough oxygen in the chamber to cause ignition. If we set a series of charges along this middle section, starting about a quarter of the way down the tunnel.” He zoomed the holo in and highlighted five points on the tunnel map. “I would say two, one-kilo charges at these five points, about 100 meters apart, should collapse at least a half-kilometer section of the cave. It’s deep enough under the mountain that it should completely bury the entire section without breaching the surface. That would slow them down long enough for reinforcements to arrive without risking damage to the artifact or the base.”
“So, we have a plan, then,” Jaysn said. “Anybody opposed to it?” He looked around the room. Everyone looked at each other, then slowly nodded.
Tamana nodded and stepped up to the holodisplay. “It’s settled then. Dr. Novik will prepare the ship for takeoff and monitor the situation. The remaining five of us will take up the following five positions and each plant two charges.” She called off each in order as she pointed to positions on the map, starting closest to the base and ending closest to the artifact. “Myself, Dr. Clarc, Dr. Katsaros, Dr. Solvig, and finally Dr. Amin.”
Jaysn was hoping to be close to the artifact, possibly even sneaking down the cave to get a peek; however, he could not argue with her reasoning. Tamana was closest to the habitat, as the oldest and slowest of the group, followed by Dr. Clarc, then himself, in the event of trouble and the team finding itself in a fight. That left Dr. Solvig, a seasoned explorer, and Dr. Amin, who had done several cave surveys in worse conditions, at the deepest points.
Dr. Amin shook his head. “I think what we’re plainly failing to take into consideration is that we’re still locked in this room until the Major decides to let us out.”
Jaysn smiled. “These hab modules aren’t designed for confinement. All they have is a door lock. Meanwhile, we have an SI still hosted inside their system.” He regarded Novik, hovering just above and to the left of his head. “Lev?” he asked, expectantly.
There was a soft click, and the door from the lounge to the rest of the base slowly opened, making only the slightest squeak.
“There are sufficient explosives for your task located in the storage bay, which I have also unlocked,” Novik confirmed. “It is currently unguarded as all personnel not in the command module are also confined to quarters. If I spoof the security feed and they discover me, I’m at risk sitting on this side of their firewall, so I simply put the central system in a scheduled diagnostic cycle. That gives you ten minutes unless they notice and override it. I suspect they’ll be too preoccupied watching the enemy ship to care about cameras in a storage room.”
“Excellent. Dr. Novik. I would suggest you transfer your matrix out of their systems and back to our ship, just to be safe. You can monitor our progress from there via comm.”
“On it,” Novik confirmed. The drone powered down and went limp as the essence of Lev moved through the base systems and back to their ship.
“Do we let Major Wolff in on the plan?” Jaysn asked.
Tamana thought for a moment. “As much as I hate to do it, let’s wait until we’re ready to detonate. My gut tells me he will probably go along with us, but he has enough to worry about without making moral judgments about our mission.”
#
Fifteen minutes later, Jaysn had returned from the armory with a large pack on his shoulder containing ten concussive charges, similar to the ones used to form the tunnel initially but now configured for a different purpose in a heated, oxygenated, and gravity-filled environment. He distributed two malleable bricks to each of his teammates, along with one remote detonator keyed to the pair. His expression conveyed the risk and importance of what they were about to attempt. They all nodded their readiness to each other as soon as he was finished.
Tamana pressed the communications button on her wrist, set to a private com frequency from the expedition’s team ship. She hoped that whoever was on duty was too busy with their own crises to be monitoring them. “Dr. Novik, our cover, please.”
The lights in the crew quarters winked out, and they heard the click of the galley access door open. This was the one common area of the base where any military personnel who happened to be looking out of the portholes from the other modules could spot them, sound an alarm, and put an end to their mission before it even got started. The five fell into the formation previous agreed upon and followed Amin through the galley. The consoles and cooking equipment, currently running in standby mode, provided just enough light for movement to be recognized, though identifying exact numbers or individuals would be difficult. As they neared the far end of the room, the airlock to the expedition site buzzed softly, then clicked as the door slowly slid back.
They continued in, not breaking ranks. Tamana, at the rear, closed the pressure door behind her and waited for Lev. There was a slight hiss of air as the atmosphere equalized for twenty seconds, and Amin fumbled in the darkness for a few more seconds before triggering the external door to the cave. This one came open almost instantly, and a rush of cold, dry air hit them. Amin flipped on his handheld utility light and entered the cave, looking like he had just come home from another day at the office.
“Be careful,” he said a few seconds later, motioning the others to follow him. The ground is very uneven, sloping downward. The gravity feels a little off. You can use the walls to steady yourselves. They’re treated with a chemical insulator to keep them from melting, or I suppose the term is boiling, since they’re gas ice. They’re cold, but a lot better than touching frozen methane.”
The others slowly followed him down the gentle slope of the cave. After rounding the first turn, out of sight from anyone in the base, the service lights flicked on, courtesy of Lev, and they found themselves in a dull gray cavern, sloping generally downward, but occasionally leveling off or meandering left and right. The walls were unevenly carved, with various boulders and bits of ice scattered about, ranging in size from a few centimeters across to almost a meter in some cases. Multiple flexible conduits ran along the floor, walls, and ceilings, sometimes fastened, sometimes simply resting in natural cracks or strewn across ice boulders. The gravplates that would typically run along the base of the walls were poorly and irregularly placed – coupled with the uneven floor, this meant that the center of gravity was as high as their shins at times, while their lower legs felt the one-sixth gravity of the planet at a slightly different angle from the sloping passage, which was why Amin expertly deduced that the gravity felt off.
They moved much faster in full light and, after a few minutes adjusting to the terrain, made good progress down the passage with only a couple of stumbles along the way. When her wrist unit beeped, confirming her position at the first waypoint, Dr. Tamana stopped.
“Here’s my mark. Best of luck to the rest of you. Plant your charges and head back to the top entrance as soon as you can,” she reminded. “This is still the easy part.”
“Be with you in just a minute,” Clarc said reassuringly as she turned to follow Amin, Solvig, and Jaysn down the passage. Their pace picked up slightly between the first and second waypoint when Clarc finally signaled she was stopping to plant her charges. Tamana, 100 meters behind them, was no longer visible due to the passage’s slope and curve. Amin, the experienced cave explorer, checked them over, making sure they were fully acclimated to their surroundings and as relaxed as possible before he, Jaysn, and Solvig carried on.
One hundred meters later, Jaysn’s tactical positioner beeped. Amin and Solvig stopped and nodded at him. “You both feel okay about this?” he asked.
Solvig shook her head. “I’ll admit I hadn’t considered how claustrophobic and lonely it was going to get the further we got down the tunnel, but yes, I’ll be okay. Don’t go back right away, though. Wait for me? I don’t think I want to be alone any longer than I must down here.”
Amin nodded. “I’m right at home,” he affirmed. “Anita, why don’t you just plant your charges and immediately head back with Jaysn. You two don’t need to wait for me. I’ll be fine.” He nodded confidently.
Jaysn nodded, taking note that Amin had used Solvig’s first name, which even he had not attempted yet. By the time he got his charges out and primed, the two were already out of sight around a bend in the cavern, and he felt the slightest tinge of dread. The cave wasn’t as silent as he had imagined. The walls creaked and groaned. Insulation cracked in places where gas ice was heating slightly, or maybe the cavern simply wasn’t as stable as everyone assumed.
He ran his hand along the wall. Amin was right. It was uncomfortably cold, but not enough to damage the skin, though he supposed there was a danger of frostbite if he left his hand there too long. Still, he knew that without the chemical spray that insulated the cave, the walls would be nearly -200 °C and probably rapidly boiling into gas from the heat of the artificial atmosphere he was breathing. Considering they were about to blow large holes in the cave, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, and he understood what Dr. Solvig had said about claustrophobia and isolation.
The comm crackled in Jaysn’s ear. “Team, be on alert. I think we have company.” He heard the slightest hint of panic in Tamana’s voice. That alone was rare enough to make his heart sink. A series of dull thuds and indistinct shouting from up the passageway. They were too far away to be Clarc. Tamana must be in trouble. He strained and thought he heard shouting voices.
Clarc’s voice, buried in static and barely intelligible, buzzed through the comm. “I’m almost back to you. Make your way down the passage if you can.”
Jaysn tapped the transmit button. “Lev, what’s going on? Are you monitoring?” There was no answer, only static. That was very bad, he thought. They must have caught on and cut power to the transport. He debated running back up the cave to help Clarc and Tamana, but remembered his promise to Dr. Solvig. He scanned the passageway behind him, but there was still no sign of her.
Next came the unmistakable sound of gunfire—plasers by the sound of them. A blast of heated plasma shouldn’t affect the insulation layer any more than super-chilled gas ice. He wouldn’t take bets on how it would hold up to multiple shots in close proximity, however. The insulation was smart enough to reseal small cracks and tears, but a large enough tear or hole would quickly trigger a chain reaction of boiling gases, possibly enough to overload the atmospheric generators that kept the cavern at proper temperature, pressure, and oxygen levels.
Jaysn tried to remember his chemistry. Methane was not poisonous, nor was nitrogen, directly. The problem was the oxygen they would silently replace. By the time you notice, you’re pleasantly drunk from narcosis and unable to do anything about it. Well, not the worst way to die, he joked, trying to undermine his fear and failing.
He suddenly became very conscious of his breathing, which, aside from his heartbeat, was the only sound he could hear.
“What the hell is happening?” Solvig’s scream cut through the air from further down the cave. A few seconds later, she came around a natural bend, just a few dozen meters away.
Jaysn shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say the base personnel took exception to us coming down here.” They both started up the cavern as fast as they could safely move. Jaysn realized they were unarmed and had no plan beyond rejoining their teammates. At least Clarc had the appearance of a brawler and seemed like she could handle herself. The best he could hope for was to charm someone into not killing them, and a two-kilometer-long tunnel left very few options in the way of hiding or running away should that fail.
A massive whump sound shook the cavern, knocking them both to the floor. A crack appeared in the ceiling, and bits of ice and insulation rained down, which Jaysn quickly brushed off Solvig and himself before they could burn them. The lights flickered and then went out.
“Oh my god,” Solvig squealed in complete darkness.
Jaysn reached out and found her arm. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Just startled, I think. You don’t think that was…”
Jaysn tried not to think, instead fumbling on his belt for the small utility light. After a few seconds, he flicked it on and surveyed the surroundings. It was not bright enough to penetrate more than a few meters. The air was much foggier now than it had been before the explosion.
“Somebody set off their charges,” he said gravely.
“So, are we trapped in here?”
Jaysn thought for a moment. How fast would the ice melt from a major breach like that? How much air did they have in the tunnel? How long until backup arrived? Would the scanners indicate there were survivors in the cave? Would they even expect and be prepared for a rescue mission? He had to admit that he was at a loss. Panic began to creep in.
Footsteps sounded from the corridor in front of them, and a flickering light could be seen far up the tunnel. Seconds later, it turned to the recognizable form of Dr. Clarc, who was practically skipping down the tunnel. She stopped upon seeing the two of them lying prone on the floor. “You two okay?”
“We think so,” Jaysn said, slowly getting to his knees and rubbing the bruise on his thigh where he hit the ground. He helped Solvig up.
“We’ve got to get moving. It appears that one of the competing corporations has bought the loyalty of about a half-dozen base personnel, including Matthews. They tried to force Wolff to give them access to the artifact, but didn’t count on us being here already. They started to put up a fight, so we had to go to plan B.”
Jaysn shook his head in confusion. “Plan B? We didn’t have a Plan B.”
“I improvised: ’B,’ as in, ‘blow everything up’ and hope for the best,’” he heard Tamana’s voice from up the passageway. She came around the bend seconds later, limping on a sprained ankle and assisted by Major Wolff. “Keep moving. We were trying to slow them down, but we didn’t completely seal the tunnel. They’ll be coming soon. We need to get deeper and blow Dr. Clarc’s charges to be sure,” she said, wincing and pointing further down the tunnel behind them.
“On the other hand,” Clarc began, “if we’ve got them bottlenecked, why don’t we go back and put an end to this?”
“Traitors or not, I don’t care to kill my own men when we have a viable eans of neutralizing their threat, Doctor,” Wolff growled.
Jaysn and Solvig took Tamana under each arm. Wolff removed a sidearm plaser from his jacket and watched the tunnel behind them for signs of pursuit as the four set off again. After a few hundred meters, Tamana said, “This should be far enough. Now, Dr. Clarc.”
Clarc retrieved her detonator. “Fire in the hole,” she yelled, pressing the button. Two loud whumps went off in rapid succession. Again, the ground shook, and flecks of ice from the ceiling rained down on them, though no one lost their footing this time.
They continued another hundred meters to where Solvig had placed her charges and were surprised to find the tunnel lights still on in this section of the excavation. Dr. Amin was there, making his way back up from his waypoint.
“Why are the lights still on?”
“Redundancy.” Wolff nodded as if expecting this. “We’ve got atmo processors and generators running independently at both ends of the tunnel for maintenance and failover purposes. We’ve detonated Clarc and Tamana’s charges, which seems to have collapsed quite a bit of the top of the site. The unit at the bottom should easily be able to keep the air clean for us on this side, though obviously the further down we go, the more comfortable we’ll be, at least for a while.”
“How long is a while?” Solvig asked shakily.
“We never considered being on this side of the collapse,” Jaysn confirmed. “Umar?”
Amin stopped and ran his hand along the wall, noting the insulation was beginning to peel. “Not long. We’ve got a lot of exposed ice now, in an environment that’s a couple of hundred degrees warmer than it needs to melt. It’s going to grow worse exponentially. The gases are lighter than the air here, but there’s no ventilation, so they’re going to build up. We should get deeper and stay close to the atmo generator.”
Tamana let go of Wolff and adjusted her tunic, wobbling only slightly as she put weight on her ankle. “Best guess on a timeline, Dr. Amin?”
“Hours, maybe a day if the insulation doesn’t start splitting. I can be more precise when I see the readings on the atmo generator.”
“Well, in the meantime, let’s get to safer ground,” Tamana said, motioning down the tunnel.
They walked in silence for ten or fifteen minutes, no one wanting to point out the obvious. Eventually, the passage began to widen. Metal archways served as support for the larger ceiling. Along one wall, Jaysn recognized the power and atmo generators that were, for the moment, keeping them alive. Both appeared a bit smaller and more fragile than he would have preferred, but from what he could see on the control displays, both were still functioning perfectly. At the far end of the widening, a smaller archway in the wall led to a dimly lit chamber. Jaysn could make out no details within the room, but he knew it was the one that contained the artifact – the source of all the fuss, betrayal, and destruction. A class 5 worker drone stood on four clustered legs in the middle of the doorway, blocking most of their view.
“Oh, thank God, you’re all okay!” the drone said in an unfamiliar voice. I was trying to warn you, but this thing doesn’t have comm access.
They all stared at it, jaws slackened. Finally, it was Jaysn who pieced it together. “Lev?”
“Yes, of course it is. They were on to us and tried to shut our transport down, so I made a hasty run back through the base systems and transferred my matrix down here so they couldn’t firewall me off from you.”
Jaysn smiled, knowing their odds of survival were suddenly increasing from “slim” to “slim with a fighting chance.”
“My friends,” Novik said earnestly from the bot speaker, “you need to look at this.” Then, he slowly turned and disappeared into the chamber behind him.
